Of Bloody Wounds and Crooked Armor
by Aria Taylor
Summary: In which Percy helps Annabeth dress her wound and ends up spilling his heart out to her instead. Declarations ensue. ***BLOOD OF OLYMPUS SPOILERS***


**Hi. This is the second installment of my BoO one-shots. You don't need to read the other one-shot, Of Rivalries and Surprises, to get this one, but you can, if you want. This specific scene takes place right after the battle in Greece, when all the gods are healed. They're on the Argo ll and about to set sail for Camp Half-Blood. **

**Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan. **

Of Bloody Wounds and Crooked Armor

You've been given ten minutes to gather what you need and get ready to set sail before the Argo ll is destroyed.

You won the battle against the giants, but barely. Your leg throbs as you run to your cabin, a constant reminder that you had a part in the rise of Gaea, that if you don't get back to camp soon, she'll destroy the world and it'll be your fault. Yours, and Percy's nosebleed.

You stumble through the door into your cabin. The room is a mess; books and paper everywhere, the crowd littered with weapons, your bed still rumpled from when you and Percy slept in it the previous night. You try not to think about the whispered words and stolen kisses you two shared, instead reaching for the belt on your desk and shoving your drakon bone sword in the holster. You place your bow and quiver of arrows on your back and start shoving your hands into the leather gloves you wear for combat to avoid getting blisters. Your thigh still screams in pain but you don't have time to dress the wound, despite the fact that you can feel the blood still falling.

As you finish tying the first glove on, you reach for the second and your hand brushes the invisibility cap that your mom got you so many years ago. You pause just for a few seconds, wishing you had gotten to say a proper goodbye to your mom. After all, she did help you defeat a giant. You could see in her eyes that she was proud of you. Lightly, you wonder if its power has been returned. You grab it just in case and hook it onto the belt loop of you jeans.

You hear Zeus bellow outside, "_Six minutes!_" You start moving faster, the other glove getting placed on your hand in record time. You finally think you're done, so you turn your attention to the bloody river that's flowing from leg when you hear it: a soft, light, almost sad exhale of breath. You whirl around to find _him_ standing there, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. He's beat up just like you are, but he doesn't have any major injuries. Just a few cuts and bruises. His armor is crooked and you have to bite back a smile as you remember all those times when you had to fix it during the Titan War and on quests and even during war games at camp. It's reassuring to find that that little boy you met so many years ago is still in there somewhere.

"Percy," you say, "you need to go get your stuff. We're leaving in six minutes."

He pulls his pen out of his pocket and flips it in his fingers. You scowl. "Got everything I need right here," he says with his mischievous grin. You ignore him and start looking for the first aid kit you know you have around here somewhere. You find it under the mass amount of papers covering your desk.

"Here, let me help," Percy says, making his way to you in only three long strides. You swallow and allow him to take over. He grabs the bandaging tape out of the first aid kit and has you sit on the bed with your heel propped up on the edge of you desk so he can have better access to your injury. You do as told, hissing in pain as Percy lightly touches the cut.

He shoots you an apologetic look. "Sorry." You nod to show him it's fine, you're fine. He starts to wrap the tape over it and you have to bite your lip to keep from gasping because he's wrapping it so tightly and it hurts. Instead, you focus on his hands and the way they move and how much he's improved at dressing wounds over the years.

A moan escapes you when he rips the bandage. As if on instinct, he wraps his hand around your wrist and looks at you. "I have to wrap it tight," he apologizes, "to stop the blood."

You nod. "I know." He chuckles at that and finishes his work. He makes sure that the bandage is on firm and when his hands linger on the skin around the wound, you are all too aware that the cut is on the back of your thigh and you swallow your breath.

You suddenly remember what you've been trying to forget: Percy's lips hard on yours, his breath mixing with yours as he says three words that scare the life out of you. You don't understand why it scares you so much. You've told him that you love him once, while falling. You know that you do. You do with all your heart, so much that it physically hurts. You were consumed with that feeling during the fall and it only seemed right that you die with those words on your lips.

But now that you're alive and not falling into the Greek equivalent of Hell, second thoughts overwhelm you. Those words don't slip out as easily. They're there, right on the tip of your tongue, and once you get to the point where you want to say them, thoughts of your father and Luke enter your head and you bite your tongue. Everyone you've ever loved has let you down in some way. You've learned over the years to harden your heart and not let anyone in because it's easier then having them hurt you.

You know that once you say those words to his face, you're giving Percy the power to destroy you and _that_ scares you more than anything.

"What's wrong, Wise Girl?" he says, moving close to you. You're torn between leaning into him or moving away. He sits on the bed beside you, his fingers having left your leg, though you can still feel the fire he left there. You decide to stay where you're at. "Why are you so quiet?"

"We're about to fight a war, Percy," you say a little too harshly. "I'm not exactly all grins and laughs over here."

Percy shakes his head, much to your surprise. "No," he says. "I've seen you before a war, and trust me, you're not this quiet." He grins and you knows he's thinking of the Titan War.

"I've changed," is all you say.

That kills Percy's good mood. He grabs both of your hands and looks you in the eyes. "Is this about what I said?"

Your blood runs cold so you cover it up with a laugh. "You say a lot of things, Seaweed Brain."

Percy ignores you. "Because I'm not going to take it back. I don't care if you don't love me back or if you think it's too early to be saying that, but I do. I love you. I love you, Wise Girl, and I know we could both die in this war and Gaea could take over the world and it would be our faults and the gods could all be destroyed and I love you."

You are so mortified because while he's talking you start _crying_ but you can't stop and then you're sobbing and he's enveloped you in his arms. You feel so weak for breaking down like this but the full impact of what's going on has just hit you. You and Percy together have just raised Gaea and this could be your last battle and the gods could be destroyed tonight and Percy Jackson loves you and it's all too much.

Percy keeps on talking. "After this war is over," he says in your ear, "if the gods win and Camp Half-Blood isn't destroyed and the Romans and Greeks don't kill each other, I'm going to make up for the months we lost. I'm going to take you out whenever you want and on the nights that you want to stay in, we can watch whatever movie you want. I'm going to kiss you as often as possible and I'm going to tell you everyday that I love you, even if you don't say it back. Because you deserve the best, Wise Girl, and I'm going to give it to you."

He should really stop telling you these things because they just make you cry more and you're losing valuable time that you could spend with the rest of your crew, getting ready to go to war, but you also don't want him to stop. When you finally collect yourself, you pull away from him and wipe your eyes. You look at him and suddenly laugh, because what do you say to someone who had just poured their heart out to you?

"That sounds nice," you settle on and apparently it's a good answer, because Percy smiles and kisses you lightly on the lips. Now that you know just how well he can kiss, this tiny peck drives you crazy. You want everything he can give you and you want to give everything you have to him.

"And I'm sorry," you continue. "I'm so sorry."

Percy furrows his eyebrows in that infuriatingly cute way of his. "Why are you sorry?"

"For not saying it back."

"I'm not mad at you."

"But you're disappointed."

Percy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Sometimes, I really hate that you're a daughter of Athena," he murmurs and you smirk. "Okay, so maybe I am disappointed. That's not going to change anything. I'd rather you say it to me because you mean it than to make me happy."

You sigh and stand up, pacing. You can hear Zeus outside, screaming at you that you have three minutes. Percy ignores it, so you do also. You say, "But that's the thing. I _want _to make you happy. I _want_ to say it back. But I'm . . ." You hesitate, hating yourself for what you're about to say.

"You're what?" Percy asks, staring you down from your bed.

You look at him helplessly and finally answer, "I'm afraid."

Percy's whole face changes at those words. He almost looks like he's in pain. You can't bear to look at him so you stare at your feet, even as he gets up from the bed and moves to stand in front of you. He's standing an inch away from you, yet you've never felt so far from him. You don't look up at him until he says, "You don't have to be."

And then he kisses you. And it's like the kiss you shared earlier, hard and passionate and fiery. You're bundled up in his arms, on your tiptoes in order to reach up and kiss his back. Your arms are smashed between your bodies, your hands gripping the straps of his armor, which you know you're going to have to fix later. You can feel his hand cradling the back of your neck, his fingers smashing your curls. But his lips are all you can think about because they are so firm against yours and you know they're going to be swollen when the two of you go upstairs to the deck and you know Piper will tease you about it and you don't really care. After all you've been through with Percy, you've learned that the most important things are these stolen moments when you can kiss and hug and melt into each other because you never know when the other is going to be taken from you. And that's why, when you pull away, you _know_ that you have to tell him how you feel.

"I think," you gasp, the words almost unintelligible between your labored breaths. Gods, Percy has really gotten to be a wonderful kisser. "I think I do love you."

The light that shows up in Percy's eyes makes up for your shaking knees. "Say it again," he whispers, tightening his arms around you. You rest your forehead on his chest and breathe, a smile snaking it's way across your lips.

"I love you," you say, loving the way the words feel on your tongue.

It's a scary feeling, now that you've finally told him those words to his face. You can't believe that you've actually done it, gotten him to break you open and given him the power to destroy you. Every other person who has been given that power has used it. But also, you think, you've given him the power to fix you. And you can't think of anyone who could do that better than him.

Percy chuckles and he's smiling when he leans down and kisses the skin right below your earlobe. You shiver against him. "I love you too," he whispers against your skin, imprinting them there, eternally, forever and ever.

***throws up from the amount of fluff in the story* **

**Hope you all survived that. Lots and lots of fluff. It's okay. Everyone needs some Percabeth fluff after reading BoO. **

**Review!**


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